Wisps of Oblivion
by Skye Maxwell
Summary: <html><head></head>On a cold Friday afternoon after host club activities, Honey convinces Haruhi to accompany him and Mori to the dojo. Honey promises Haruhi that he and Mori will walk her home, but after Mori's kendo matches, Honey has mysteriously disappeared...</html>
1. Chapter 1

Honey and Mori exited through the front doors of Ouran High School and moved swiftly across the lawn in the direction of their destination. Mori, with his hands in his pockets, listened quietly as Honey talked excitedly about the cakes he had just eaten at the host club.

It was a chilly winter day, and the sky was covered by a sheet of light gray clouds. A biting wind blew sporadically, rustling the bare branches of the trees in unpredictable bursts.

"Honey-senpai! Mori-senpai! Wait up!" a voice suddenly called from behind.

The two turned to see Haruhi approaching them at a slow run, flushed and out of breath. Relieved that they had finally turned around and noticed her, Haruhi stopped where she was and bent forward, placing all of her concentration on the simple act of breathing in and out.

Honey immediately ran back to her with tears in his eyes and outstretched arms, crying, "I'm so sorry, Haru-chan! Were we going too fast for you?"

"No, Honey-senpai," she said as she tried to catch her breath and as he caught her in a hug. "I just wanted to catch you before you left for the weekend. You left this at the host club."

Honey released her, and she tentatively held up a small, bunny-covered pouch, careful to hold it away from her body as if what was inside was going to spring out and attack at any moment.

"Ah, my shurikens!" Honey exclaimed, taking the pouch from her in both hands, carefully surveying the bunnies on its surface and coming to the conclusion that they were all just as cute as before, if not cuter.

Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to have the deadly little weapons out of her hands. She was slightly uncomfortable about handing over such items to Honey-senpai, but they were his property, and it was not her place to judge whether or not he should be allowed to possess the shurikens.

"Thank you so much, Haru-chan! These will come in handy in case I run into Chika-chan on the way to the dojo!"

"You're welcome," Haruhi said warily, still apprehensive about the manner in which the two brothers violently fought each other.

Waving off the image of the pouch's entire contents flying at Yasuchika's face, Haruhi conversationally asked, "So you and Mori-senpai are heading to the dojo?"

"Yep! Takashi has a lot of matches today. There are a lot of challengers in the kendo club who would like a chance at defeating Takashi," Honey said with pride. Then his eyes brightened with an idea. "Hey, Haru-chan, why don't you come with us? You can watch Takashi's matches, and then we can walk you home! Wouldn't that be fun, Takashi?"

Not having moved from the spot where Honey had left him, Mori gave his cousin a small nod.

"Well…" Haruhi said with uncertainty.

"Please, Haru-chan?" Honey pleaded. "The matches are really fun to watch. Takashi is very skilled, you know. And I promise we'll get you home safe afterwards. Please come with us!"

"Well, I guess it might be okay since it's Friday," Haruhi reasoned, "and I guess I'll have time to study tomorrow since Dad will be at work and I'm ahead on my chores... and I _would _like to see Mori-senpai's kendo matches…"

"So it's a yes?" Honey asked excitedly.

"Yeah, sure," Haruhi said with a smile, decidedly glad for this sudden change of plans.

"Hooray!" Honey exclaimed in celebration with his arms in the air as he skipped toward Mori. "This is going to be so much fun!"

The three of them set off toward the dojo, with Haruhi walking in between her two seniors. Honey did most of the talking, with an occasional reply from Haruhi or a word or two of agreement from Mori.

About halfway to the dojo, Mori looked down at Haruhi and became concerned. Then, as if on cue, Honey looked at her, and he noticed too.

"Haru-chan? Are you cold?" Honey asked, frowning.

"Uh, yes, actually," Haruhi admitted. "Just a little bit. Mostly my hands. I should have brought gloves this morning."

Before she even finished speaking, Mori's checkered scarf had been wrapped around her neck, Honey's plaid green hat had been plopped on top of her head, and her right hand was enveloped by a large grip while small fingers laced in between the fingers of her left hand.

Feeling the two very different hands suddenly wrapped tightly around hers made Haruhi blush momentarily, but the unsure feeling she had quickly dissipated as she became grateful for the growing warmth she was receiving.

"Thank you," she said, "but you really don't have to-"

She was cut off by a glance at Honey, who had a finger raised to his lips, telling her that she was welcome and that they didn't mind at all. She then looked at Mori, who also had a quieting finger on his mouth, looking comical as he did the mimicked gesture.

Haruhi moved her gaze forward again, and she smiled warmly, glad to be with such kind friends.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Honey said softly, "We're very happy to get to spend this extra time with Haru-chan. We're really very lucky, aren't we, Takashi?"

"Yes," Mori replied.

And so they continued on, with Haruhi in a very privileged place: in between a Haninozuka and a Morinozuka.

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><p><strong>Please do leave a review. I would love to know what you think so far. :) Thanks for reading.<strong>

**-Skye**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Today (May 5th) is Children's Day, Cinco de Mayo, and (more relevantly) Mori's birthday! :D This chapter is dedicated to Mori. Lol. **

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><p>Haruhi sat and waited patiently as Mori went to change into his street clothes. She had just witnessed over an hour of Mori annihilating one opponent after another, showing an interesting side of him that Haruhi had never quite seen. Holding his scarf and Honey's hat in her lap, she watched the other members of the kendo club file out of the dojo, some of them still looking defeated and worn out. She observed their expressions and mannerisms, getting lost in the shuffle of their feet, their inaudible sighs, the white knuckles of their clenched fists…<p>

"Haruhi?" a startling voice from beside her asked.

"Ah, Mori-senpai!" she said, snapping out of her trance and standing up. "You were very impressive. It is amazing that you could keep your stamina up for so long and defeat so many skilled competitors. It must have taken a lot of training and discipline to get to this point."

Mori gave a nod and then looked about himself once. Not finding what he was looking for, he asked, "Where is Mitsukuni?"

"Oh, he called a car and went home about half an hour ago," Haruhi answered.

Concern flashed in Mori's eyes, and he gave her a questioning look.

"He said he felt sick," Haruhi added, "and he said it may have been from eating too much cake."

At hearing this, the concern on Mori's face was replaced by some unidentifiable emotion.

"Are you going to go visit Honey-senpai now to check and see if he's okay?" Haruhi asked.

"Maybe later," Mori answered as he looked off into the distance, surprising Haruhi a bit. She had the fleeting thought that his tone conveyed a lack of concern for Honey, but she knew that that couldn't be accurate. Seeing the confused looked on her face, he added, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Oh… okay then," Haruhi said, figuring that Mori was probably correct because of familial instinct or something. "Well, I suppose it's time to go home now."

Not sure if she wanted to stick to their earlier plans now that Honey was absent, Mori asked, "Would you like me to call a car?"

"To pick me up? No, that won't be necessary. You don't have to do that," she assured him. "Thank you, though. I can just walk the rest of the way home."

"I'll walk with you, then."

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that," she repeated, not wanting to trouble him any further.

He gave her a look that told her that he wasn't going to take no for an answer, and then he looked pointedly at the hat and scarf in her hands, which she immediately put on in response.

"You're right, it's better that I don't walk alone. It will probably be dark soon," she replied even though he had not specifically articulated these sentiments. "Thank you, Mori-senpai. You really are very kind."

Instead of responding, he silently walked ahead, leading her out of the dojo.

When he pushed the door open, Haruhi exclaimed from behind him, "Oh, look, Mori-senpai! It cleared up!"

The atmosphere outside was a stark contrast to the one they had encountered earlier. The sun was just beginning to set in a sky that was completely free of the afternoon's gray clouds. Deceptively warm-looking orange hues painted the expanse above, casting a soft golden light upon the earth.

"It's so pretty," Haruhi said appreciatively as Mori shut the door behind her. "It's a perfect time to walk home, don't you think?"

"Mhm."

They began to walk, this time with Haruhi doing most of the talking. When Haruhi ran out of things to say about the host club and the kendo matches and her homework for the weekend, they walked on in silence. Haruhi was pleased, however, to find that the silence was not at all uncomfortable but rather very pleasant.

Quietly, as not to disturb the newfound tranquility too much, she said, "You know, Mori-senpai, usually when I'm around members of the host club, it's all noise and chaos, but... this is different. It's nice."

He gave a small smile down at her, but it was lost on her as she gazed contentedly at the now half-set sun. As the sun continued to sink in the sky, the temperature dropped significantly.

When she began to wrap her hands absentmindedly in Mori's scarf, he asked, "Cold again?"

Snapping out of another trance, she looked down at her hands and gave a short laugh.

"Yes, I suppose so. It's fine, though-"

Without missing a beat, Mori quickly but gently took her right hand in his and continued forward as if nothing had changed. Momentarily surprised, Haruhi nearly tripped over her own feet, but she immediately got her feet back on the same page as her brain and fell back in step with Mori. She easily convinced herself that he was simply repeating the earlier gesture and nothing more, and she was once again thankful for the warmth he supplied.

At one point, he halted and let go of her hand, only to move to her left side and take hold of her other now ice-cold hand. She chuckled at the tall, ever-observant host, and this time when he smiled, she noticed and was at first lost for words. A look of wide-eyed wonder came over her face, but then she returned a smile up at him gratefully as two tiny wisps of oblivion floated on the night air and then were whisked away by the chilling breeze.

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><p><strong>I hope Mori-senpai likes his present. XD<br>This is a three-shot, so the next and final chapter will be posted next week.  
>Please review! :) Thanks to all who have reviewed so far: Kyoton (first! XD), paigeydoll, kiera-sama, Red Amnesia, Mata7Ashita, and At the Heart of the Storm.<strong>

**-Skye **


	3. Chapter 3

**Please enjoy the third and final chapter. :)**

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><p>"You lied."<p>

Honey, who was sitting in the middle of his bed with Usa-chan, froze and looked up as the owner of the deep, accusing voice entered quietly through his bedroom door.

"How'd you know?" Honey asked quietly as Mori sat down on the edge of the bed, his back to his cousin.

"Too much cake…"

After a moment of silence, Honey giggled, confirming his guilt.

"You caught me, Takashi!" he exclaimed.

Mori looked behind himself at Honey and shook his head disapprovingly, but there was a gentle smile on his face.

While he had eye contact with Mori, Honey put on his serious face and asked gravely, "Did Haru-chan get home okay, Takashi?"

"Yes," Mori responded shortly.

"How did she get home, Takashi?"

"Walked."

"She didn't walk alone, did she, Takashi?" Honey pried.

"No."

"Was she terribly distressed and upset about my absence, Takashi?"

"No, Mitsukuni," Mori said, gently mocking how Honey kept saying his name.

Honey was mildly amused by Mori's teasing, but he did not show it, wanting to keep the moment serious.

He leaned forward and asked, "Haru-chan wasn't too cold on the way home, was she, Takashi?"

Mori turned away, his back to Honey once again. Honey's heart fell, but then Mori shook his head.

Honey sighed and then let out a big, approving laugh, squeezing Usa-chan happily.

With a huge smile plastered on his face, he latched himself onto Mori's back and said, "Let's go get some cake, okay?"

Mori nodded and stood, giving Honey and Usa-chan a piggyback ride to the kitchen.

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><p>As they neared Haruhi's apartment building, Haruhi realized just how hard she was squeezing Mori's hand. She immediately let up on the involuntary death grip, realizing with embarrassment that she had probably been holding his hand that hard ever since he had smiled at her and they'd let their fingers slowly lace together.<p>

They reached the stairs and just as slowly released each other's hands without looking at one another. Haruhi decidedly stepped in front of Mori to lead the way up the stairs.

"Thank you for walking me home, Mori-senpai," she said as they ascended the stairs. "I'm sorry if it inconvenienced you in any way."

Not looking at him and continuing to climb the stairs, Haruhi was left wondering if he would respond.

"Haruhi?"

Something in his tone made her freeze, and she turned around to face him. She immediately noted that because she was a couple of steps ahead of him, she was about his height.

He unknowingly burst her bubble by climbing another step, putting himself at a head taller than her. She barely had time to acknowledge this, however, as she looked up at him.

With one hand on the railing to keep himself from toppling over, he lowered his head and gave her a soft, lingering kiss on the cheek. As the brief warmth of his lips mingled with the existing heat radiating from her face, Haruhi stopped thinking, and her eyelids fluttered shut.

When he finally pulled away, her eyes slipped open, and she took in the look on his face.

Before she could get a word out, he offered as an explanation for his actions: "Your face looked cold."

Their eyes locked in a silent stare, and neither of them spoke or moved.

Haruhi eyed him suspiciously, wondering if he was serious. Was that a tinge of red on his face that she was seeing?

She finally replied, "Thanks…"

After another moment, Haruhi could no longer hold it in and quietly began to laugh, placing a hand over her mouth as to prevent a full-on outburst.

"No problem," he said, unable to hold back a bright smile.

When her laughter died down and she felt she could keep herself together, she resignedly took off Honey's hat and handed it to Mori. She then removed the scarf, but when he went to take it from her, she did not let him have it. Instead, she reached up and wrapped it around his neck like he had done earlier that afternoon for her, careful not to make it too tight.

"We should do this again sometime," she said offhandedly as she straightened the scarf out.

She smiled when she was finished, and she turned wordlessly to make her way up the stairs to her apartment.

"When it's warmer?" he asked in response to her previous statement.

She looked over her shoulder at him, thought about it for a moment, and then shook her head and said, "No."

Mori gave a surprised grin, and Haruhi beamed back at him in that natural host way of hers.

And so, with an unvoiced goodnight, the two turned and went their separate ways, both walking away less blind than they had been when they had woken up that very morning.

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><p><strong>What a cute, fluffy mess. Lol.<br>Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review if you could.  
>Look out for more from me in the future. ;) 'Twas a pleasure.<strong>

**-Skye**


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